Thermostatic valve



April 28, 1925.

F. c. LEONARD.

THERMOSTATIG VALVE 2' Sheets-Sheet 1 ori inal Filed Feb. 19, 1921 April 28, 1925. 1,535,485

F. C. LEONARD THERMOSTA'IIIC VALVE Original Filed Feb. 10, 1921 2 Sheets-Shet 2 74 Ga, as 25 59 a 325 5, 58 73 62 I 9 77 75 g 55 s5 65 b 57 la 66 44 /8 .2 I.,n!l I v 8o 63 45 Q0 4 I9 86 87 92 11 87 I3 Patented Apr. 28, 1925.

UNITED STATES PATENT oF-FlcE.

- FREDERICK CHARLES LEONARD; OF PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND, ASSIGNOR TO LEON- ARD-ROOKE COMPANY, OF PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND, A CORPORATION.

THERMOSTATIC VALVE.

Original application filed February 10, 1921, Serial No. 443,796. Divided and this application filed November 27, 1923. Serial No. 677,318.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FREDERICK CHARLES LEONARD, a cltlzen of the United States, re-

siding at Providence, in the county of Provi-.

dence and State of Rhode Island, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Thermostatic Valves, of which the following is a specification. I

My invention relates to improvements in thermostatic valves of the form shown and cent part of the opening in the wall and thus overcoming an objectionable and unsightly condition as well as providing improved conditions from a sanitary standpoint.

In the accompanying drawing Figure 1 is a front elevation of my improved thermostatic valve mounted' on a side wall and having the rear end portion imbeddedin said wall, with the piping con.-

cealed generally by said wall, 1 and an escutcheon applied to the valve structure, the wall and escntcheon being in part broken away.

Figure 2 is a side elevation of the valve structure and the piping shown in Fig. 1, the front portion of said wall being shown in section.

Fi ure 3 is a front elevation of the base P01131011 of the casing.

liiglpre 4 is a front elevation of the base,

portion -of a modification, adapted for use with exposed piping, parts of the piping connections being also shown.

Figure 5 is a rear elevation on an enlarged scale of the front part of the housing or casing and the operating mechanism that is housed therein.

Figure 6 is a view, part in rear elevation rality of openings for pipe connections, comand part in section, of the parts shown in Fig. 5, the parts in section being on lines G6 and 6 -6 of Fig. 7.

Figure 7 is a sectional view on the lines 77 and 7"7" of Fig. 5.

Figure 8 is a front elevation with the hand wheel and the temperature control member removed.

Figure 9 is a rear elevation of the tem-' perature controlled member.

Figure 10 is a front elevation, being the View from the inner face, of the stop washer for limiting the rotation of the shaft, on an enlarged scale.

Figure ll-isa side elevation of the shaft or rod and the spring and stop mechanism that cooperate therewith.

My improved thermostatic valve comprises a casing 10 that is provided with a pluprising a pair of inlet openings 11 for being connected to the supply pipes, one for hot water and the other for cold water, and a delivery opening 12 for connection With the delivery pipe. Adjacent each of the inlet openings 11 is a valve device, comprising a fixed seat structure 13 and a movable valve structure 14. for cooperating therewith, for controlling the flow of water through the inlet openings 11.

Link mechanism, designated generally by the character 15, serves as the connecting of ahand wheel 18 that is mounted on the outer end of the shaft 17, the said shaft 17 being extended outwardly through the easing 10.

A temperature setting device 19 is rotatively mounted on the portion of the shaft 17 intermediate the hand wheel 18 and the 0 casing 10, has an index finger that. cooperates with a dial on the opposed portion of the casing 10, and also has a radially directed handle 22.

The temperature setting device 19 operates upon the thermostat 16 through the medium of a connecting device 23 that projects through the casing 10, is rotatively mounted on the shaft 17 has the outer end portion operatively connectedv to said temperature setting device 19, and has within the interior of the casing 10 a radially directed arm 24 that is connected to the thermostat 16.

Stuffing-boxes are provided for the connecting device 23, comprising the inner stufiing-box 49 between the same and the shaft 17 and the outer stufling-box 50 on the outer side, opposed to. the casing 10.

The casing 10 is composed of two main parts, comprising the base or fixed part 25 and the cover or removable part'26, said parts being secured together by means of screws 27 that engage with overlapping flanges 28 that are provided on said parts 25 and 26, a suitable packing ring 29 being interposed between said flanges.

The devices mentioned above and the functions thereof, so far as pertains to the general significance of the terms employed, are not of themselves novel.

I have, however, devised details of construction and arrangement of the parts to provide for special situations and conditions that are embodied in the present improt ed form of structure.

These will now be considered.

The device is adapted to be supported from a side wall, and, as distinguished from v such devices in common use, and which are positioned in off-set relation to said wall, it is positioned so as to be in close relation to the wall, as in the two forms that are shown.

Thus in the form shown in Figs. 1 and 2,

the base 25, which constitutes the rear portion of the casing 10, is imbedded in the side wall 30, being positioned in an opening 31 in said side wall 30. In this form the pipes that connect with the openings 11 and 12 areconcealed, and, because of the shallowness of the depth, of the base structure, in order to provide for convenience in making the connections and doing the pipe-work I provide the said openings 11 and 12 in the back wall 32 of said base 25.

In the form shown in Fig. 4 the base 25 is set against the side face of the side wall, with the back wall 32 generally in abutment therewith. In this form said back wall 32 is unbroken and the pipe openings 11* and 12' are provided in'the form of radially directed openings in the side wall rotatively mounted on the reduced extension 33 of the base 25 In the case of installations having concealed piping the'hou'sing opening 31 in' the side wall 30, in order to provide for leeway for the piping, is made larger than would be strictly necessary to provide clearance for the side wall 33 and maybe made larger in diameter than the flanges 28 so as to leave part of the housing opening '31 exposed around the valve structure. In order to conceal such an exposed part of the opening 31 and at the same time conceal the flanges 28- and the holding screws 27 I provide an escutcheon 34, of annular form, and held in place by one or more set-screws 35, being adapted to slip over and be supported by the cylindrical shell-like side wall 36 of the cover part 26.

The thermostat 16 is in the form of a spiral coil of sheet metal and is supported at the outer end by the radial arm 24 and at the inner end by the sleeve 37 that is rotatively mounted on the shaft 17. The arm 24 has the body part positioned between the thermostat 16 and the front wall 38 of the casing cover part 26 and has at the outer end a rearwardly directed branch 39 that is secured to the thermostat in any proper manner, as by means of one or more rivets 40.

The inner end 41 of the thermostat 16 is entered into a slot 42 in the sleeve 37 and is held in place by means of an annular nut 43 that is screwed on the front end of said sleeve 37. v

The inner end of the arm 24 is connected to the body portion 51 of the connecting device 23. Said body portion 51 is of sleeve-like form and is mounted on the front portion 45 of the shaft 17.

The sleeve 37 is mounted on the portion 44 of the shaft 17 adjacent said front portion 45.

Said adjacent portion 44 of the shaft 17 serves,..through the medium of the sleeve 37, as the thermostat supporting portion of the shaft 17, and is slightly enlarged relatively to the front portion 45, so as to provide a shoulder 46 at the junction ofsaid portions 44 and 45.

Said shoulder 46 serves as a thrust bearing for limiting the forward movements of p the shaft 17 by cooperating with the op posed portion of the body portion 51 as indicated inFig. 7 by the character 46. Thus the shaft 17 is limited in movement rela- 54 at the front end of the body portion 51 of the connecting device 23, as by means of a key 55, and is positioned longitudinally at the front end by the hand wheel 18, which'fis opposed to the front face thereof, and at the rear by the opposed front wall 38- of' the casing cover part 26. The rear end portion 61 of. the shaft 17 projects through a bearing 62 in a transversely directed arm 63, and is provided at the extreme-end with a washer 64 that is held inplace by an axially positioned screw 65, and interposed between said washer 64 and the arm 63 and mounted on said rear end portion 61 is a spring 66 that tends to draw the shaft 17 towards the rear.

Such inward movement of the shaft 17 is limited by means of an enlargement 67 of the shaft 17, which is in the form of an eccentric for a purpose to be described, and which engageswith the opposed front face of the arm 63.

Suitable stop devices are provided for limiting the rotative movement of the .shaft 17. v

'- The eccentric enlargement 67 of the shaft 17 extends from the arm 63, against which it vabuts as mentioned, to the cylindrical enlargement 44 that serves as the support for the sleeve 37 and the thermostat, and serves as the bearing for the hub portion of the rocking member or Walking-beam member 72 that is connected to, the link mechanism .15 and also to each of the movable valve structures 14.

The means for effecting the connections mentioned comprise a set of arms arrangd generally in the form of the letter T,

- consisting of the two relatively short arms Q as the fixed valveseat structure 13.

73 in alignment and directed approximately diametrally and the longer arm 74 intermediate said short arms 73 and radially directed.

Short links 75- serve to connect the short arms 73 with the adjacent movable valve structure 14. 4

The link mechanism 15 serves to interconnect the arm 74 with the sleeve 37, the connection with the latter being made through the medium of the radial arm 76v provided thereon and which is positioned adjacent the rear face of the thermostat 16.

The "link mechanism 15 comprises a swinging post 77 that is pivoted to a fixed support by one end and has the other end connected by a pair of links to the arms 74 and 76. Thus the link 78 connects with the arm 74 and the link 79 with the arm 76.

The valve devices are in the form of bal" anced valves, comprising for each a pair of valve seats 81 in spaced relation that are provided in a suitable housing 80, that serves The moving valve structures 14 are composed in each case of a pair of valves 82 that are supported by a single valve stem structure 83 that extends-through the openings in the valve seats 81 and is provided on one end with the head 85 that serves as the means for connecting with the link 75. i

The body. portion of the stem structure. 83 is a good fit for the wall of the opening that is enclosed by the valve seat 81 in each case and said structure is provided with longitudinal grooves 84 that serve as passageways or ports for the passage of water.

The two valve housings 80 and the bear-- ing supporting arm 63 that supports the bearing 62 for the shaft 17 are parts of a unitary structure 86 that extends in the form of a bridge across the interior of the casing 10 and is supported by its'ends from-lugs 87 that are provided on the front or cover part 26 of said casing 10, being held in place by screws 88. i

The said valve housings have each an opening 89 in the rear face that connects- .which is housed a packing ring 93.

. The passage 90 connects in each case in a proper manner with the corresponding inlet or supply opening 11 or 11, as the case may be.

Thus, as described, the moving parts are all carried by the structure 26 that is designated as the front or cover part of the casing 10 and are, therefore, removable therewith as a unit from the part 25, designated as the rear or base or fixed part. This condition permits of access to the moving parts without disturbing the piping. Such removal may be necessary or desired for various reasons, as for cleaning, or packing valves, or making changes in any manner as may be neede r i For bringing the opposed annular seats 91 into registration for cooperating the only partsthat are manipulated are the screws 27 that engage with the flanges 28 on the parts 25"and 26 of the casing 10.

I claim as my invention 1. In combination in a thermostatic valve,

a casing composed of a fixed base part and a removable cover part, said base part having openingsfor pipe connections, a passage connecting with one of said openings for hot water and a second passage connecting with another of said openings for cold water, devices supported by and housed within said cover part comprising a pair of valve housing structures having valve seats, valves for cooperating with said seats, and means for operating said valves, and the Walls of said passages and said valve housing structures aving opposed and cooperating seats for providing aseparable joint.

2. In a combination as described in claim. 1, the parts of the casing having laterally extendin and overlapping flanges for securin the casing parts together, and an escutc eon mounted on said cover part serving to overhang said flanges and the adjacent border space.

3. In a thermostatic valve, a casing having a base part and a cover part that is mounted on said base part, said cover part having the end that is opposed to said base part crossed by a bridge structure, a pair of valve cast ings-supported by sa d bridge structure, and

said base part having a pair of passages, one for hot water and the other for cold water, that are connected individually with said valve casings.

4. In a thermostatic valve, a casing having inlets for hot and for cold Water and an outlet, mechanism housed vvithin said casing for controlling the flow of water from said inlets comprising moving valves and fixed seats, said casing being composed of two main parts, the one a base partand the other a cover art and means for su ortin said moving valves and fixed seats'froin said cover part.

FREDERICK CHARLES LEONARD. 

